What homelessness really looks like for women

If you had nowhere safe to go tonight, what would you do? For thousands of women and children in Queensland, this is an all-too-common reality. Homelessness doesn’t always mean sleeping on the streets – it’s often hidden in plain sight. It’s women living in cars with their kids, couch-surfing, or crammed into overcrowded temporary shelters with no sense of stability or security.

On any given night in Queensland, more than 22,000 people are without a home. Nationally, women and children account for nearly half of Australia’s homeless population. For these individuals, homelessness isn’t just about the absence of a roof over their heads – it’s the loss of safety, stability and hope.

It’s a crisis driven by a web of systematic issues, from domestic violence and financial inequality to a severe lack of affordable housing. But no matter the cause, understanding what homelessness really looks like – and what it doesn’t look like – is critical to developing meaningful solutions.

What does it actually mean to be homeless?

When most people think of homelessness, they picture a man sleeping rough on a park bench or under a bridge. But while rough sleepers are the most visible face of homelessness, they represent only seven per cent of all people experiencing it.

For women and children, homelessness often takes a much less visible form. It can include:

• Living in cars to stay hidden and safe.
• Moving between friends’ or family members’ homes, hoping not to overstay their welcome.
• Staying in overcrowded crisis accommodation, where privacy and stability are nonexistent.

For many women, particularly older women and young mothers, homelessness doesn’t align with the stereotypical image. This “invisibility” makes it harder to quantify the scale of the problem and provide the support these women need. Many women experiencing homelessness for the first time don’t even self-identify as homeless – from their perspective, they’re simply trying to survive, day by day.

Misconceptions about homelessness

The idea that homelessness is about not having a roof over your head is a common misconception. The reality is far more complex.

Homelessness is about the absence of safety, security and the basic conditions needed to rebuild your life. It’s about living without privacy, without the ability to prepare a meal, or without the stability to send your children to school.

Take Sarah’s experience, for example.

Forced onto the streets at 13, Sarah spent years living in a playground, unable to find safety. Later, as a young mother of three, she fled an abusive relationship with just a few emergency bags – and her experience illustrates how homelessness can manifest in unexpected ways, presenting challenges that defy common perceptions.

“When you’re homeless, food isn’t the problem,” she says. “I was offered food left, right and centre, especially because I had children. But the food I was given – I couldn’t prep it, I couldn’t cook it, I couldn’t store it. In a way, it was like teasing me with something I couldn’t have.”

Her story is just one example of how homelessness affects more than just shelter – it strips away the everyday tools that make life manageable.

Then there’s Tracey, whose experience is an example of how even well-meaning gestures can miss the mark.

The experience of homelessness is often accompanied by a deep and hidden trauma. Despite Tracey’s best efforts to keep her family together and stay in their rental home, her plan fell apart when her partner assaulted her daughter. Forced to flee, Tracey and her daughter became homeless, sleeping rough in a machinery shed for 11 months. Though she continued working, it wasn’t enough to secure a rental.

While living on a friend’s property, Tracey and her daughter used a garden hose to wash, illustrating the gap between good intentions and good outcomes.

“My friend wanted to help, but she had no idea what that meant, even though she was looking at me every day, falling to pieces,” she recalled. “It was her water I was using, and she even came to me with her water bill, asking me to contribute. I wanted to pay my due, I’d always worked and paid my way, but it was impossible.”

Even after securing a place to live, the challenges continued. Tracey speaks of the psychological impact of homelessness, the strain on her relationship with her daughter, and the difficulty in accessing support services.

"Once you get a house, it's not better,” she said, emphasising the need for ongoing emotional and psychological care. “That's where you need the support to come in and wrap around you.”

Tracey’s experience shows the long-lasting psychological toll of homelessness, and the need for trauma-informed care and ongoing emotional support.

The root causes of homelessness

Women’s homelessness is rarely the result of a single event, or a sudden spiral. Instead, it’s often the culmination of overlapping factors that push them to the brink.

Domestic and family violence

Domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia. Many women are ultimately forced to flee violent homes with little more than the clothes on their backs, and this displacement can leave them without financial resources, social support or access to safe housing.

Financial inequality

Financial inequality remains a significant driver of women’s homelessness. Women continue to face lower lifetime earnings than men, earning an average of 14.1 per cent less per week, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Many women also experience interrupted careers due to caregiving responsibilities, leaving them with smaller superannuation balances and fewer savings to fall back on.

In fact, women retire with approximately 23 per cent less superannuation than men, with one in three women retiring with no superannuation at all.

The housing crisis

The shortage of affordable housing is devastating for low-income earners. For those relying on government benefits such as Youth Allowance or JobSeeker, securing rental housing is nearly impossible. In 2024, there were no rental properties available in Queensland for people on these payments. The lack of affordable options forces many women into unsafe, overcrowded or unstable living situations.

Addressing the crisis

As Queensland’s oldest charity, The Lady Musgrave Trust remains steadfast in its commitment to addressing the complex issue of homelessness. Through initiatives like The Handy Guide of Women’s Support Services and innovative housing projects, the Trust provides tangible solutions for women and children in need.

Women like Tracey and Sarah are not just statistics; they are real people reminding us that everyone deserves a home. And that doesn’t just mean shelter – it means stability, safety and a sense of belonging.

Homelessness is not inevitable, and with the right resources and community support, we can work towards a future where no woman has to experience it. It demands systemic change, collaboration across sectors, and a commitment to addressing the root causes of homelessness.

In the words of Sarah, “Every young woman and their child deserves to be safe.”